Who is Gabriela Migala?
Gabi Migala is a polish professional CrossFit Athlete who joined The Progrm in 2020.
Stats
Year of Birth: 1997
Nationality: Polish
Height: 170cm
Weight: 75kg
Profession: Full time athlete
CrossFit Affiliate: CrossFit 72D
Instagram: @gabimiga
Max Clean and Jerk: 108kg
Max Snatch: 91kg
Max unbroken RMU: 10
Career Highlights
6x CrossFit Games athlete (2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)
1st 2023 Europe Semifinal
Since 2017 National Champion of Poland
8th 2022 CrossFit Games Champion
6th 2021 CrossFit Games Champion
3rd CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown (2021, 2022)
6th 2018 Europe Regionals
3rd 2016 CrossFit Games, Teen Division
2023
Wodapalooza
Migala made up part of Team BPN with Laura Horvath, Jamie Simmonds. The Elite female had two event wins and only finished out of the top 5 in one event. At the end of the weekend. the tied for first place.
The Open, Quarterfinals, and Semifinals
Easily one of her stronger finishes in the Open (14th worldwide), Gabi went on to rank 2nd in the Individual Quarterfinals before heading out to Berlin. At the Europe Semifinal, she had a strong performance from start to end. It was only in Test 2 that she ranked outside of the top 4, but recovered immediately by winning Test 3. She won the Semifinal and is the Fittest individual woman going into the CrossFit Games.
CrossFit Games
Coming soon.
2022
The Open, and Quarterfinals
After a strong performance in the Open placing 13th worldwide, Gabi went on to win the Individual quarterfinal, besting her 2nd place finish the year before. This granted her an invitation compete in an official Semifinals event, the Lowlands Throwdown.
CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown 2022
In May of 2022, Migala competed in a Semifinal event so she could secure her invitation to the CrossFit Games. With 1 event win and five top-five event finished, she placed 3rd overall.
CrossFit Games
She had seven top 10 event finishes, four of which were in the top five as well as an event win. Migala ranked 8th overall the the end of competition weekend.
Rogue Invitational
Gabi placed 5th at the 2022 Rogue CrossFit Invitational.
2021
The Open, and Quarterfinals
Migala started the season strong finishing the Open 12th worldwide and moving on to take 2nd place in the individual quarterfinal. This performance earned her an invitation to compete in the Semifinal held in the Netherlands, CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown.
CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown 2021
This CrossFit sanctioned event was held over three days in Amsterdam. The highest ranking individual Open athletes from Europe were invited to contend for a spot to the 2021 CrossFit Games. Competing among Europe's best athletes, Migala stood on the podium in 3rd place.
CrossFit Games
After 4 top-five finishes, Gabi finished in 6th place, her best finish as an individual to date.
Rogue Invitational
This exclusive CrossFit / Strong man competition is the one of the most important CrossFit licensed event of the season. Migala finished 3rd.
Dubai Fitness Championships 2021
Rounding out the season, Gabi competed in Dubai where she finished in the third place position on the podium.
2020
Online CrossFit Open
Gabi placed 17th worldwide in the Open.
Norwegian CrossFit Championship 2020
In February Gabi travelled to Norway where she participated in the Norwegian CrossFit Championship. After 1 event win and 6 top-five finishes, she won first place.
CrossFit Strength in Depth
Migala continued to establish herself as an “athlete to watch” while competing in London. At the end of the weekend, she placed second including two event wins.
The CrossFit Games
Following the health and travel restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 CrossFit Games was temporarily changed to an online format. Migala had one event win and finished in 18th place.
2019
Wodapalooza 2019
Gabi had 5 top 10 event finishes including 5th in the swim event and 4th in Event 6.
The Open
Gabi placed 30th worldwide in the 2019 Open.
The CrossFit Games
This was Gabi's first CrossFit Games appearance as an Individual athlete. At the end of the weekend she finished 75th.
Dubai CrossFit Championship 2019
Gabi placed 4th in her second appearance at the Dubai CrossFit Championship. She had 11 top 10 event finishes.
2018
The Open
In the Open, Gabi earned 30th worldwide. This had been her best finish competing as an Individual Woman
The Europe Regional
At the Europe regional, Gabi earned 6th place. She placed within the top 10 in five of six events that weekend including an event win in event 1.
Dubai CrossFit Championship 2018
In December, Migala qualified for the Dubai CrossFit Championship were she finished 9th. Her best event finish was 7th which she earned in Event 3, an 8 kilometer run in which the athletes wore weighted vests in the first half.
2017
The Open
Gabi participated in the Open finishing as 66th in Europe.
2016
The Open
Gabi's first Open was in 2016 where she competed as a teen in the 16-17 age group. Out of 5 events, she placed first in 16.2 and 16.5. She ranked 3rd overall, securing her a place at the Games.
The CrossFit Games
This was Gabi's debut CrossFit Games appearance.
Personal Life and Beginnings into CrossFit
Before CrossFit, Gabi used to play tennis at quite a high level. She didn't play as a professional, however competed nationally in Poland. Her Dad was the one who got her into it after she couldn’t decide which sport she liked. She confesses never enjoyed team sports that much.
She first tried CrossFit end of 2015, when she went to a gym (CrossFit 72D) with a friend from tennis. Since then, she hasn't turned back and has even managed to get other members of her family train CrossFit, including her Mum and Dad. Gabi has two siblings who are a lot younger (11 and 4 years old).
Q&A
Hardest workout you have ever done?
2016 Games (Teen division) the Berm run.
Choose/Design 1 workout to beat anyone in the World
Machine Triple 3 from Regionals 2018
Who do you wish was watching you perform at every competition?
Parents
Favourite sports hero?
Serena Williams
How does being an athlete make you a better person?
I have built confidence and I am therefore less shy than I once was.
Favourite song or playlist:
Joe and The Juice official playlist on Spotify.
Best moment in your CrossFit career:
Standing on the podium at the 2016 Games + running to the finish line on Regionals Triple III as it was my first event of my first Regionals and first victory.
How do you celebrate after a competition?
Usually I am pretty tired, so we have a nice dinner and then bed early.
Tips for someone who wants to become a professional CrossFit Athlete:
It is important that you enjoy the journey.
What do you tell yourself on days when you feel unmotivated/tired?
Luckily I am usually motivated to train naturally. I try to realise the importance of finishing the session even though I may not PR and it is better to push rather back off. I actually feel training on these days where you feel tired are the most important, as it mimics when you are at a competition. I also get motivated knowing that other athletes would do the session when tired, so using that helps me.
What goes through your head before entering the competition floor?
It depends on the event, if the event is hard for me I then get more nervous as I feel more uncertain.
What are your goals in the close future (6 months – 1 year)?
I am just looking to improve and become the best I can be. Really in the next year I would like to go back to the CrossFit Games and show people I can do better than 77th place.
